SF Giants GM Brian Sabean on Brandon Belt

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, May 3, 2012

Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 28: Brandon Belt #9 of the San Francisco Giants hits a two run double in the seventh inning of their game against the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park on April 28, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) less

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 28: Brandon Belt #9 of the San Francisco Giants hits a two run double in the seventh inning of their game against the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park on April 28, 2012 in San Francisco, ... more

Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

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San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt reacts to a called strike two in the tenth inning during their game with the Miami Marlins Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in San Francisco Calif. The Marlins won 3-2

San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt reacts to a called strike two in the tenth inning during their game with the Miami Marlins Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in San Francisco Calif. The Marlins won 3-2

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

SF Giants GM Brian Sabean on Brandon Belt

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I hope you Lunatic Fringe-ers appreciate how I put my rear end on the line for you.

Brandon Belt had a crummy game Tuesday night (as did all the Giants' hitters), but he was penciled into the starting lineup Wednesday, in the six-hole. Seemed like a lousy time for me to present the Free Belt argument to Brian Sabean.

And yet, there he was, the general manager who drafted Belt and helped present him as the Giants' first baseman of the future but now is part of the conspiracy to stall Belt's development.

Thus the clamor - some of it from me - to Free Belt. Let him play every night for six weeks, give him a chance to get comfy and see what he can do, instead of sitting him against most lefty pitchers and against some righties.

Belt had a game-winning double in the seventh inning Saturday, then sat Sunday against a lefty. Ay caramba!

On Wednesday, Belt went 2-for-4 with a flukey double in the ninth that started a two-run rally that sent the game to extra innings.

So what about it, Mr. GM? Free Belt?

"He's free! He's playing!" Sabean said Wednesday in the Giants' dugout during batting practice. "What the hell are we talking about? Stop! Stop!"

I sensed that Sabean was subtly trying to tell me something, so I probed deeper.

I mentioned that because Belt is billed as the first baseman of the future, some of us would like to see him play every day.

"It may end up turning out that way," Sabean said, somewhat calmer. "But some of it, you have to earn. He has had a lot of at-bats that aren't major-league quality. This lineup is starving for some consistency ...

"So whether it's him, or Nate (Schierholtz), or whoever's in and out of the lineup, there's a reason they're in and a reason they're out. And I think in any long season, much like (Bruce) Bochy has proved, you need to use the whole roster.

"In Belt's case, you've got (right-handed-hitting Brett) Pill, who's had some nice at-bats, and especially has done pretty well against left-handed pitching. And we've got an investment in (Aubrey) Huff, although when he's able to return, he will probably be more in the outfield, and we'll be more comfortable looking at the two kids (Belt and Pill) at first base."

The Huff thing will grate on some. Buster Posey will play many games at first base, and some fans would like to see Belt - not Huff - in left field when Posey's at first. The "investment" thing rankles, but it's baseball reality. You pay someone $11 million, you will run him out there with some regularity, even if that seems to slow the development of someone like Belt.

The bone of contention between the Free Belt-ers and the Sabean-Bochy Bloc is that over the years, the Giants have given long leashes to old, seemingly over-the-hill players, but they tend to quick-hook kids who even think about slumping.

Two glaring exceptions: Pablo Sandoval and Posey. The Giants brought them up and made them regulars immediately.

However! Sandoval and Posey were instant-impact hitters. Sandoval hit .345 in his 41-game debut in 2008. Posey hit .305 as a rookie, and smoked the ball from Day 1 in 2010.

When was the last time the Giants had a future gem they let play his way through rookie doldrums, the way they patiently let ancient Miguel Tejada try to find himself last year?

The Fringe-ers are saying, "Let Belt suck the way you let Tejada suck. At least Belt has a potential upside."

"Belt's a guy that we all want to see have success, because we need it," Sabean said. "And he's the type of hitter you want to invest in. ... (But) if you look at the at-bats that don't go too well, there's either a pitch he gets and fouls off, or pitches that he gets and swings and misses. And if you look at his strikeouts per at-bat (13-for-44 this season), it's not necessarily what you want to see."

Belt's problems are partly mechanical, Sabean said. I asked him about reports that Belt is stubborn, resistant to suggestions from coaches. Sabean waved off that idea, but others with the team will tell you they would like to see Belt lose the deep crouch, and move back in the box, start driving pitches to right field instead of fouling them over the third-base dugout.

Sabean closed his now-friendly sermon with a vote of confidence for the Baby Giraffe.

"He's going nowhere," Sabean said, meaning Belt will stay with the Giants. "The kid's earned his way onto the team ... and we all want him to take over as the first baseman, and help this lineup, and I think it'll turn out that way.

"But you still have to earn your right to stay in the lineup."

OK, then, how about Free the Other Brandon (Crawford)?

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